Zoey Duncan
The Rainy River District Victim Services Program celebrated the tireless efforts of its volunteers with a dinner last Tuesday night (May 3).
Program volunteers provide practical support services to victims of various distressing and traumatizing incidents.
The need for strong community support was reinforced by keynote speaker and child activist Mark Hecht, who discussed emerging trends in international child protection and their impact on communities.
“In some ways, [we’re] looking internationally and seeing how what is happening internationally, around the world, is still relevant to what we’re doing on the frontlines with local children,” said Hecht, the co-founder of Beyond Borders, a Canadian organization dedicated to raising awareness, advocating, and providing training on human rights violations against children.
Hecht noted that during the global recession, Canada has not significantly changed the amount of aid it provides to other countries in need.
He visited a new school in Togo, Africa that had been outfitted with more than a dozen new Apple computers connected to the Internet through satellite receivers.
“This was funded entirely by the Canadian government, the Canadian International Development Agency,” Hecht said.
“I came back from that trip and about two weeks later, I was invited to go to part of Quebec, near Abitibi-Témiscamingue, to visit one of the reserves there from the Algonquin community, and what I saw on that reserve was no running water and very limited electricity.”
Hecht acknowledged the issues faced by communities a world apart are complex and not always comparable, but noted, “it’s the local children that are really feeling that there’s a lack of opportunity, lack of resources to assist them.”
Hecht next quoted an Interpol study that suggested there is an increase in the number of children being charged with Internet luring, “sexting” (sending explicit text or photos via cellphone), and the production of child pornography.
“It’s concerning because . . . the evidence is overwhelming that people who act out sexually more often than not have been victims of sexual crimes themselves,” he remarked.
His concern is that there is too much emphasis on charging young offenders without realizing the offenders may, too, be victims in need of support services.
Following his speech, Hecht said parents should practice safe Internet use with their children. When he speaks to elementary school students, for example, the children often are shocked when he tells them friends they have met online may be fabricating their identity.
Hecht also suggested concerned parents visit cybertip.ca for advice.
“That’s not only where parents go to get resources, because they’ve got lots of resources there, but also if they feel there’s somebody that may be soliciting their child, having inappropriate communications with their child.
“They can actually report that person on Cybertip anonymously and that information can funnel to the police,” he explained.
Hecht cited statistics that show sexual offences against children are overwhelmingly committed by men.
The “Man to Man” campaign by Beyond Borders has recruited Canadian celebrities, including race car driver Jacques Villeneuve and NFL player Israel Idonije, to speak out against child sexual exploitation and encourage other men to have similar conversations.
Peggy Loyie, program manager for the RRDVSP, said this discussion came at a poignant time in light of recent charges against two local men—one for possession of child pornography (also known as child abuse images) and the other for possession of, accessing, and making available child pornography.
“We don’t talk about kids a lot,” Loyie admitted. “We don’t talk about what’s happening with children and yet it’s something we see all the time in the news, and you read about it.
“It’s something that I thought at least this gives us a point to start talking about it,” she stressed.
Loyie also emphasized how integral it is to have generous community members available to respond to victims in need.
“I really appreciate everybody coming out,” she remarked.
“It gives us an opportunity to celebrate our volunteers and the people who help make this agency what it is.”
